Friday, October 31, 2008

THE RODA

The roda always amazing me, once you buy the game be prepared for the unexpected. Some days I feel so good in the roda, I have total ownership of my game, use my floreios at the appropriate times, attack and defend, have a good flow, all while having a great conversation with the capoeirista I'm playing with.

This wasn't the case during the last class I attended. Feet taped due to bad blisters, I bought my first game...and quickly realized that the tape on my feet was super slippery for some reason. I was slipping and sliding and could not move fast enough to defend myself, much less attack. No floreios were possible since I was not able to keep my balance. In the few seconds I was playing, all these things were running through my mind all while knowing that the person I'm playing with has no clue to what is going on. I must have looked like I just couldn't keep up or was totally off during this game. Even though I knew all this, still I felt embarrased at my performance and was hard on myself about it.

It's funny how we are hard on ourselves when we don't perform to our best. We train hard to play hard, and since we know our ability, we expect so much from ourselves. But the roda is just like life, you're not always going to be perfect. There are sometimes obstacles and bumps in the road, there are ups and downs, and not every day is a good day. We can only make the best of every situation and learn from our experiences.


LESSON: WHEN YOU FALL, GET BACK UP AND TRY AGAIN. PUT LOVE IN ALL YOU DO. YOUR BODY'S JUST A VEHICLE TRANSPORTING YOUR SOUL, IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE YOU - THERE'S BEAUTY TO BEHOLD.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Macacu - What a frustrating floreio


This photo was taken in the spring of 2007 - over 1 year ago...this is an attempt at a macacu. It is now October 2008 and my macacu still looks like this. I have practiced thousands of macacus, some days at the beach I do almost a hundred on one given day. - I STILL CAN'T DO THE MACACU.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Capoeira is.....


Capoeira is not just a martial art, it is an art. I sing I dance I fight. Capoeira gives me strength, confidence, makes me happy. It was love at first sight since that first jinga in Aug 2006. My free time is no longer about tv or just relaxing, it's about watching videos, talking about capoeira, thinking about capoeira, putting together combinations, practicing floreios...etc etc etc.

Weekends are no longer about going to the beach or park to relax, it's all about floreios and combinations. 24/7 capoeira is a full time job. I know that the more I practice, in class and outside class the better I will be. And the better I am, the happier I feel at my accomplishment.

I have already surpassed all expectations I had of myself. I never thought I'd be physically able to do the things I'm doing. This is the beauty of it. Capoeira really is for everyone. There is a place in capoeira for everyone.